Gymnast: Tim Daggett

Tim Daggett was a member of the 1984 Olympic team that won gold, and is a commentator for NBC.

Starting Gymnastics

Daggett started gymnastics at age 8, when he stumbled upon a gymnast training on high bar at West Springfield High School. He told MassLive.com, "Up until then, I hadn’t found a sport I really liked, but when I saw that guy swinging on the high bar, I suddenly knew: This sport was me."

He asked the coach in the high school gym how he could become a gymnast, and the coach, Bill Jones, became his mentor through high school.

UCLA

Daggett attended UCLA as an undergrad, competing on scholarship for the men's varsity gymnastics team (the program has since been dropped by UCLA).

Daggett won NCAA titles on pommel horse, parallel bars, and high bar, and placed second all-around in 1984, the year UCLA won its first NCAA team title as well. He graduated in 1986 with a degree in psychology.

The Los Angeles Games

Daggett qualified onto the 1984 Olympic team, along with UCLA teammates Peter Vidmar and Mitch Gaylord. Fortuitously, the Games were held in Los Angeles, and the gymnastics competition was held at UCLA's own Pauley Pavilion.

Daggett and team USA made history by becoming the first American team -- male or female -- to win Olympic gymnastics gold. (Two women's teams have now matched the feat: In 1996, the Magnificent Seven won gold, and in 2012, the Fierce Five did as well.)

Daggett's best moment of the competition came on high bar. He was the fifth member of the US team to go, and since one score could still be dropped, a strong set meant the US would have gold. Daggett earned a perfect 10.0, ensuring that his team would become Olympic champions. He also won a bronze medal in the pommel horse finals,(Vidmar tied for gold on that event), and tied for fourth on high bar.

Post-Olympics

Daggett continued with gymnastics after the 1984 Games, winning the US national all-around title in 1986. But injuries began to catch up with him. He had chronically bad ankles which required surgery, and had two major accidents: one at the American Cup in 1987, in which he fell on his head and ruptured a disc in his neck, and one at the 1987 worlds, where an awkward landing on vault shattered his tibia and fibula.

After withdrawing from the 1988 Olympic Trials due to injury, Dagget retired from the sport.

Personal Life

Daggett was born May 22, 1962, as one of seven kids. He is married to Deanne Lazer, a former gymnast at Eastern Michigan University, and the couple has two kids, Peter (named after Peter Vidmar), and Carlie.

Daggett owns Tim Daggett Gold Medal Gymnastics in Agawam, Mass.

NBC Commentator

Daggett has been a gymnastics analyst for NBC since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and often works alongside Al Trautwig and Elfi Schlegel at big gymnastics competitions covered by NBC, such as US nationals, the Olympic Trials, worlds, and the Olympics. He has occasionally worked as a commentator for ESPN as well.

Gymnastics Results

International:

• 1987 World Championships: 9th team
• 1985 World Championships: 9th team; 25th all-around
• 1984 Olympic Games: 1st team; 3rd pommel horse; 4th high bar (tie)
• 1983 World Championships: 4th team

National:

• 1988 Olympic Trials: Withdrew due to injury
• 1988 US Nationals: 5th pommel horse
• 1986 US Nationals: 1st all-around; 6th pommel horse; 3rd rings; 3rd vault; 1st parallel bars; 4th high bar
• 1985 US Nationals: 3rd all-around; 3rd floor; 2nd pommel horse; 1st parallel bars
• 1984 Olympic Trials: 3rd all-around
• 1984 US Nationals: 4th all-around; 5th floor; 1st pommel horse; 2nd rings (tie); 1st parallel bars (tie); 1st high bar (tie)
• 1983 US Nationals: 5th all-around; 1st pommel horse; 2nd high bar
• 1982 US Nationals: 4th all-around; 5th pommel horse; 6th rings (tie); 6th parallel bars